Sunday, October 9, 2016

Pangasinan hosts 3rd Regional Tourism Confab

LINGAYEN– The province of Pangasinan welcomed some 400 stakeholders of the tourism industry from the four provinces in the Ilocos Region as it served as the host venue of the third Regional Tourism Convention this year.

The Department of Tourism (DOT) in the Ilocos holds the event annually to instil in the national consciousness that tourism can be an instrument of accelerated national growth and development and as a means to give identity and unity to the nation.

It is being held every last week of September in observance of the National Tourism Week celebration as declared in Presidential Proclamation No. 849, series of 1996.

This also coincides with the World Tourism Day proclaimed by the World Tourism Organization every 27th of September.

“This convention has become a common ground for the regional tourism practitioners to exchange ideas, discuss issues and challenges confronting the industry,” the DOT said.

It has also strengthened the cooperation amongst its tourism stakeholders towards the development, promotion and sustainability of tourism in the region as this industry brings in a lot of income not only to tourism stakeholders.

It has domino effect even to the local vendors, people in the market, transportation groups, among others as everything gets affected in a positive way.

Gov. Amado Espino III addressed the tourism key players and stressed that the provincial leadership has remained passionate and steadfast in elevating tourism development in Pangasinan, to make it become “the best place to invest, work, live and raise a family.”

On the other hand, Vice Governor Jose Ferdinand Calimlim, Jr. urged the regional tourism event delegates to advocate tourism wherever they go and challenged them to “be the number one attraction of your localities.”

The four-day tourism confab was held from September 27 to 30 with activities held at the famed Sison Auditorium in Lingayen and in Alaminos City, home of the famous Hundred Islands National Park. (PIA-1, Pangasinan)